


Douse the flames

by armchairaloof



Series: Douse The Flames AU [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24637390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armchairaloof/pseuds/armchairaloof
Summary: A modern firefighter AU for the rom com connoisseur. Pranks, ribbing, and awkward flirting inside.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano
Series: Douse The Flames AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960048
Comments: 32
Kudos: 288





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a firefighter rom-com AU. I had the idea, I wrote this little slice of life. I don't know why either. Ahsoka, Annakin, and Obi-Wan are adopted siblings, Rex and Cody are brothers. Anakin is Ahsoka and Rex's Chief, but that's the only rank I adapted from the show. So apologies in advance to anyone who actually knows about fire departments because I'm playing fast and loose with reality here. Emphasis on the rom-com.

“How is it this hot already? It’s supposed to be spring!” Cody threw his hands up and clasped them behind his head, panting.

“Come on, my station’s only a couple blocks away,” Rex consoled him. Truthfully, he was thinking the same thing. “We can get some water there.”

“Okay but no mooning over your Commander when we get there. In and out, water only.”

“Mooning? I do not _moon_ ,” Rex sputtered indignantly. They started jogging again, but at a much slower pace.

“I’ve seen the way you look at her. And talk about her. I know mooning when I see it.”

“I happen to respect her as our Commander.”

“Sure, sure. Look, I get it. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Ahsoka is my friend.” Cody scoffed at him but Rex continued, “And even if I thought of her as more than a friend… it doesn’t matter. She’s technically my superior officer.”

“Bullshit.” Cody gave up the pretense of running, forcing Rex to slow down to his pace. “You know Coruscant FD doesn’t give a damn about fraternization rules.”

Rex shrugged. “Well even so, I’m not going to risk our friendship and the camaraderie of the station like that.”

“How is that risking it?”

“What if she didn’t feel the same way?” Cody outright laughed at that. “What?”

“If you moon, she does too. Fives has sent me enough snapchats of you two doing sudoku together or whatever it is you do in your downtime to know that you’re both idiots with feelings.”

Rex looked at him suspiciously. “I’m not saying I do have feelings…” Cody raised an eyebrow. “But if I did, and even if she didn’t reject me—what if it ends badly?”

They were nearing the station now and the sound of cheers cut off whatever reply Cody was about to give. Cody laughed as the small crowd of firefighters shifted to allow the brothers to see what was going on.

There on the pavement in front of the station’s truck bay were Ahsoka and Wolffe, the captain at Station 2, doing pushups. The cheers from the semi-circle of men and women now distinguishable as competing cries of “Tano” and “Wolffe.”

Rex spotted Fives among the crowd and approached him. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh hey, cap. Tano and Wolffe are doing a pushup competition. They’re over 60 now.”

“Just hit 70,” Echo called from Fives’ other side, clipboard in hand.

“Nice!” Hardcase reached around to give Fives a high five and then went back to chanting Ahsoka’s name.

Rex tried not to look too closely at Ahsoka—who was in a perfect pushup form. But she was angled such that he had a great view of her ass in the tight shorts she wore to exercise. She also wasn’t wearing a shirt, just a strappy sports bra that showed off her very attractive back. So yeah, Rex might’ve been staring a bit.

“98… 99… 100!” The cheers reached a crescendo as they hit 100 as both competitors lowered themselves to the ground and stopped. Wolffe rolled over to lay flat on his back, limbs spread-eagled. Ahsoka rested with her forehead on the pavement for a few more seconds then copied his position. Rex couldn’t hear what they were saying but after a bit Wolffe reached over and shook Ahsoka’s hand, then helped her up.

Wolffe put his arm around Ahsoka’s shoulders as they stood to loud applause from the onlookers. Wolffe wasn’t wearing a shirt either, Rex noticed with some not-so-small amount of irritation.

“I think a truce between Stations 2 and 4 is in order, don’t you, Commander Tano?” Wolffe looked down at Ahsoka with a smirk. She smiled back at him breezily.

“Until next time, Captain.”

“You guys mind if I take a quick shower here? I’d prefer not to get the rig all sweaty.”

“No problem!” Ahsoka stepped out from under Wolffe’s arm and Rex let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “You know the way.”

Cody nudged his arm. “Dude, chill out. I’ve heard Wolffe say she’s practically his little sister.”

Rex grunted. He’d heard Wolffe say that too, during one of their many joint operations. It still didn’t make the jealous bastard inside him any quieter though.

“Rexter!” Ahsoka finally noticed Cody and Rex and skipped over to them. Rex could’ve sworn she did the briefest of double takes at his bare chest, but then she turned to Cody like nothing had happened. “Codester! What’s the occasion to bring Station 1’s finest to our neck of the woods?”

“Don’t let Obi-Wan hear you say that.”

“What my brother doesn’t know, won’t hurt him. That’s my motto!”

Cody laughed at the smug look on her face.

“Rex and I were just out for a jog and stopped to cool off for a second.” Cody paused and looked over to Rex to get him to say something but Rex’s mind was suddenly and completely blank. “Good job on the stalemate with Wolffe, we caught the last part of it.”

“Oh!” Ahsoka squeaked. She looked almost embarrassed that they had been watching. “Yeah Wolffe always tries to beat me at something when he comes over to the station. He hasn’t found one yet though! I actually beat him last month at ladder training, though he claims I somehow cheated. It’s not like _I_ set his ladder up in a mud pile…”

Cody looked between them as Ahsoka trailed off. “Well I’ll go get us some water bottles. Rex, stay loose! We’ve still got a mile to go before we’re back at the house.” And with that Cody jogged inside the station along with the rest of the dispersing crowd.

Rex reached up to run his hand over the back of his head awkwardly. “So… how’s the shift going? Chief keeping out of trouble?”

“Ha, not a chance. We already had one call just to assist at a car accident and Anakin rode along just because he was bored. The boys in blue were weirded out that a Chief was on scene for what turned out to be a fender bender, for sure.”

Rex laughed along with her, noticing again just how pretty she was when she smiled.

“He’s inside with Chief Koon if you needed to talk to him or anything.” Ahsoka hooked her thumb over her shoulder toward the station. “They’re probably talking about paperwork or something equally as boring.”

“No, no. I get enough of him at work. Just tell them I said hi.”

“Will do.” They smiled at each other. “Well I should get cleaned up too. I’ll see you tomorrow though, right?”

“Yeah, I’m on the schedule for 0600.”

“Cool, me too! Well, I will _still be_ on the schedule, but you know.” She chuckled faintly as she swung her arms back and forth. “Anyway! You should get back to your run. I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” Ahsoka turned and all but sprinted inside.

He saw Cody hold the door open for her as he was exiting with suspiciously good timing.

“Did you get all your _mooning_ out of the way?” Cody tossed him a water bottle with a grin. “When can I expect the wedding invitation? You know, I’ve always pictured you getting married in the fall, don’t ask me why—” Rex cut him off by smacking his water bottle against Cody’s forehead. “Hey!”

“Shut up, idiot!”

“All I’m saying is, best man speeches take time to perfect.”

“Are you done?”

“Almost. I’m also partial to sunflowers in a wedding—understated yet cheery.”

Rex nodded. He took exactly one deep swig from the water bottle before holding it upside down over Cody’s head. When it was empty, Rex threw the bottle in a recycling bin near the station door and ran away at full speed.

“Race you back to the house!”

“Oh, you little shit!”


	2. Chapter 2

Ahsoka’s attention was drawn from the mind-numbingly boring report she was writing by a loud crash in the lobby.

“What the—"

She wrenched open her office door just as a suspiciously high-pitched giggle reached her ears.

“Snips!” Anakin’s voice sounded desperate.

More crashes had her racing to the main common area of the station. She skidded to a stop at the sight she found. There surrounded by several toppled chairs, was her brother with his two babies strapped onto his torso, one in front and one on his back. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week and Ahsoka was pretty sure the shirt he was wearing was both inside out and backwards.

The commotion had several of the on-duty firefighters coming to see what was wrong. A couple of them raced in from the garage, probably thinking there was an emergency, only to freeze in the doorway. Fives was the first to recover and swiftly pulled out his phone.

“Anakin, what’s going on? Where’s Padme?”

“Padme has the flu,” Anakin said, carefully unstrapping Luke from his chest, who Ahsoka saw was somehow still sleeping, and handing him to the nearest rookie.

“Uh, sir?” Tup held the sleeping child with outstretched arms, looking at him with fear in his eyes.

“Hold on…” Anakin mumbled as he poked at a complicated buckle system until he could reach around and take Leia out of the carrier. Unlike her brother, Leia was wide awake and kicking gleefully in her father’s hold. Anakin passed this child to Ahsoka and then promptly collapsed on the nearest couch.

Ahsoka smiled at her niece and shifted her to her hip so that Leia couldn’t kick her in the stomach. Well, couldn’t kick her as _easily_.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you all…" Ahsoka said to the prone form of her brother, "but why are you here? You’re not supposed to be on the clock until tonight.”

“Padme’s been sick the past couple days and these two can walk now. Snips, they can walk!” he groaned and slid halfway off the couch. “Actually, they don’t really walk, it’s more like running, climbing, and jumping. In that order. So I have to chase after them and catch them when they jump off every piece of furniture in the house. And Padme really needs to sleep but she can’t when these two are performing death-defying acrobatics day and night. So we’re on a field trip to the station.”

“Sir?” Tup now turned to Ahsoka. He was still holding the boy as if he was a live grenade.

She sighed and beckoned Fives over. “Put down the camera and take the baby, Fives. Tup’s about to have a panic attack.”

“Yessir. Got all the footage I need anyway.”

“Jesse, go out to the Chief’s car and see what kind of provisions he thought to pack, if any.” Ahsoka looked down at her brother, now snoring loudly with his head dangling off the couch. She sighed. “Looks like we’re on babysitting duty, boys.”

Ahsoka got her phone from her desk and snapped a picture of Anakin to send to Padme as proof of life. She also sent it to Rex for good measure.

_Ahsoka:_ picture

_Ahsoka: our fearless leader_

Rex’s response came a few seconds later.

_Rex: What’d you do to the Chief?_

Ahsoka snorted and looked down at the toddler in her arms, who was now using both of her clammy hands to systematically destroy Ahsoka’s ponytail. She took a selfie of both of them.

_Ahsoka: the station is under new management_

_Ahsoka:_ picture

_Ahsoka: and her name is Leia_

_Rex: Oh no_

“Commander.” Ahsoka looked up from her phone to find Jesse and Echo coming in from the parking lot loaded down with carriers, diaper bags, and all manner of other baby things. “It looks like he packed the whole house.”

Fives used the hand that wasn’t holding Luke to go through the bags. “He didn’t pack the essentials though. No diapers.”

Ahsoka lifted Leia up in her arms and sniffed. “Okay, that’s gonna be a problem. This one’s ready to blow.” Leia laughed gleefully and swung her chubby legs, almost hitting Ahsoka in the face. She set the girl down and watched as she ran over to Echo full speed.

_Ahsoka: any chance you could get some diapers and swing by?_

_Rex: Sure thing, be there in 20_

Ahsoka smiled reading the text. “Rex’ll bring some over in a bit.”

Fives smirked. “How chivalrous of the captain.”

Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at him and went over to the assorted baby items. The diaper bags were filled with baby food jars, wipes, burp cloths, extra clothes… but no diapers. Her brother was going to hear an earful when he woke up. She looked over to the couch just in time to see Anakin spasm slightly in his sleep and let out a particularly loud snort before settling back into what had to be an uncomfortable sleeping position.

“Whatever. We’ll get some diapers, hang out with the kids for a while, then I’ll pack them all up and take them home at the end of my shift. It’ll be fine.”

* * *

When Rex walked in the station doors 15 minutes later, it was decidedly not fine. The first thing he saw was a naked and screeching Leia running from at least three firefighters. Looking further into the room, his eye was drawn to Tup and Hardcase who were coaxing an equally naked Luke down from the top of a supply cabinet.

“What the…” Rex dropped the shopping bag of diapers he’d been holding next to the door.

Leia ran under the big table in the center of the room, evading her pursuers and laughing maniacally. Just as they started to go around the table to come at her from the other direction, she darted out between their legs and continued her mad race. On her next lap, Rex stepped out from where he’d been crouching behind the fridge and scooped the wriggling child up in his arms.

“Why is she all wet?”

Fives skidded to a stop in front of him. “We hosed them down in the showers. That only made them stronger though. Slippery and with nothing to lose,” he panted.

Leia attempted to squirm out of his hold, but Rex kept a tight grip under her shoulders. “Get me a towel, will you?”

Kix threw a towel at him from somewhere and Rex quickly wrapped the little girl up in it, restricting her arms and legs until only her head was visible.

“How’d you do that!?” Tup sounded almost offended. He and Hardcase were still standing beneath the cabinet ready to catch Luke if he jumped.

“Practice.” Rex winked at them. While Rex didn’t babysit nearly as much as Ahsoka, he was still familiar with the special kind of crazy that Skywalker children had. “Take this.” He handed the fluffy ball of Leia to Fives and picked another towel up from the back of an overturned chair.

He walked slowly over to Luke’s cabinet with the towel stretched between his arms. “Luke, you wanna jump down to me, buddy? Like we do in the pool?”

Luke’s delighted screech was the only warning Rex got before he maneuvered himself into a position to catch the boy as he flung himself into the air. Rex quickly repeated the towel wrapping process with this child and handed him off to Hardcase.

“Now. Does someone wanna tell me what’s going on?” Rex put his hands on his hips and looked at the assembled firefighters who were now shifting nervously. “And where the f—firetruck are the Chief and Commander?”

“Last I saw, Commander Tano was escorting Chief Skywalker into the single stall bathroom to puke his guts out,” Echo calmly recounted.

Fives took up the explanation, “Yeah, he was saying that Padme had been sick, so I guess he got it too. And that’s when double trouble over here both had bowel movements at the same time. Twins, am I right?” He laughed and hefted the towel-imprisoned Leia higher up in his arms. “We didn’t have any fresh diapers so we tried to wipe them down as best we could, but they kept moving around so finally we just took them to the showers. And then they escaped, and now we’re here.”

Rex felt a headache coming on.

“Tup, get the diapers by the door. Echo, set up a changing area with the wipes and new outfits for each of them. We’ll do it one at a time, Luke first.”

As Echo laid a blanket on the floor and got clothes and wipes out, he directed Hardcase to set Luke down and carefully unwrap the towel while still keeping hold of his upper body. Rex grabbed the boy’s legs before they could kick him.

“Gather round, you all should learn how to do this for next time.” Rex proceeded to show them all how to change a diaper and redress Luke, and then had Fives and Echo take their places with Leia. When both children were dressed and calmed down from being swaddled, Rex finally relaxed. He let the others keep watch on the toddlers and sunk onto a couch.

Until he heard the obvious retching sounds coming from the private bathroom as the door opened.

Ahsoka stepped out and shut the door behind her. Luke and Leia were now playing quietly with Jesse and a still slightly nervous Tup, but they were clothed and not screaming so he’d count it as a win.

Rex made to stand up from the couch and go to her but Ahsoka shook her head and crossed to the kitchen sink. When her hands were raw from scrubbing, she shut the water off and sighed tiredly. She collapsed on the couch next to Rex and rested her head on his shoulder. He stiffened at the unexpected contact, but recovered from the shock quickly and forced himself to loosen his muscles.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Ahsoka mumbled into his shoulder. “Sorry for ruining your day off.”

“Once we got past the running and screaming, we did okay,” he said. Ahsoka huffed a laugh. “Is the Chief all right?”

“He’s got whatever Padme had. I called her and she’s apparently on the mend, but still not great. So Anakin’s got a couple days of this to look forward to. I’m gonna stay in their guest room to take care of the hellspawn.”

Rex frowned. “But you’re coming off three days on duty. You must be exhausted already.” He felt her shrug, but she stayed quiet as if to say ‘so what.’ He hesitated. This might be overstepping their friendship, but he couldn’t let her deal with this all by herself. “What if I came with you? I could stay until the twins’ bedtime at least. That way you can focus more on Padme and Anakin.”

Ahsoka thought for a second. “If you wouldn’t mind… that would actually be really helpful. I don’t know how I’m going to wrangle all three of these children to get back to their house.”

“I’m happy to help.” Rex smiled softly down at her. “But who’s going to be in command here? The Chief’s obviously not going to start his shift tonight, and you and I are still coming off shift.”

“I’ll call Obi-Wan. He and Cody can probably manage splitting up duties between Station 1 and 4.” Ahsoka sat up and looked around for her phone.

“Good idea.”

* * *

“Okay, Anakin wasn’t kidding about all the jumping.” Ahsoka fell back on the couch with a heavy sigh. “I feel like I just worked a house fire, but all we did was feed them and put them to bed.”

Rex followed her into the living room and lifted her legs to sit on the couch next to her. “How can something so small have so much energy? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Ahsoka groaned and covered her face with an arm. “They probably sucked the energy from Padme and Anakin and that’s why they’re sick.”

He snorted and then scrubbed a hand down his face. They were both quiet for a long moment as they enjoyed the lack of toddler screeches. “I should head home before I fall asleep here.”

“The demons got your energy,” Ahsoka mumbled. Her face was half covered by her arm and half pressed against the pillow so her words were hard to catch.

“Oh and they didn’t get yours?” Rex still hadn’t made a move to get up from the couch. It was comfortable here, and Ahsoka’s leggings-covered legs across his lap were warm.

“Nope.” She turned so she was on her side facing the back of the couch, hands under her cheek adorably. “I’ve got so much energy… I don’t know what to do with it.”

Maybe if he just rested his eyes for a few minutes, he’d work up the motivation to leave. Yeah, Rex thought, that seems like a good plan.

* * *

Padme woke up feeling a million times more human than when she’d gone to bed. The thick haze of sickness was almost completely gone from her senses and she finally felt like she could move without immediately throwing up.

Anakin was passed out on their bed, huddled under several blankets. She vaguely recalled Ahsoka bringing him home last night. Padme would really have to thank her sister-in-law for taking care of him, and she assumed the twins too.

She padded down the stairs quietly. It was still early enough that the twins were probably still asleep, and she’d like to keep it that way as long as possible. And now that her appetite was back, Padme was starving.

A soft sigh brought her attention to the living room. She stepped quietly through the open French doors and peered over the top of the couch.

Padme hadn’t even realized Rex was here last night, but it makes sense that he’d offer to help Ahsoka. If those two weren’t in love with each other, Padme would eat a shoe. And lose a bet with Anakin.

Rex and Ahsoka asleep together on their couch wouldn’t qualify as a win for her on its own, but it was still damn cute. Ahsoka was curled around Rex with her head pillowed on his chest. Rex had his arms around Ahsoka’s back like he was hugging her, his chin resting on the crown of her head. They both looked so peaceful and content.

Padme got her phone out of the pocket on her robe and quickly snapped a picture before going to the kitchen to start breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this became the "Cody and Padme serving second breakfasts and hard truths" show and I'm not mad about it.

It was rare that Cody and Rex shared a meal together these days. Their work schedules almost always conflicted, and if they didn’t, they overlapped awkwardly. There were a couple weeks last year where Cody was on a mostly nocturnal sleep cycle due to some creative scheduling at Station 1, and the only way Rex knew his brother was alive was by the food going missing from the fridge the next day.

So to say that Rex was surprised to see Cody standing in their kitchen when he entered the house the next morning, preparing enough food for what looked like a literal army, was an understatement. Rex cautiously closed the front door behind him and peered at his brother suspiciously. He was still groggy from sleeping on a couch last night—and reeling a bit from the implications of _who else_ slept on that couch with him. But he had presence of mind enough to tell that something was up.

Cody paused his cheery whistling— _suspicious_ whistling—at the sound of the door and turned around to grin at Rex. “You’re home! I thought it’d take you longer since you left your car at the station yesterday.”

Rex narrowed his eyes. “How did you know I left my car there?”

Cody waved off his question with a spatula covered in batter and turned back to the stove. “Kenobi must have mentioned it when he came back from Station 4. You’re welcome, by the way, for picking up your slack.”

“If by slack you mean a Chief incapacitated by illness and two toddlers with a death wish,” Rex scoffed as he walked further into the kitchen. “Then yes, thank you.”

Cody waited until Rex had poured himself a cup of coffee and then let the bomb drop. “I may have also seen a certain picture of you on your Chief’s couch.”

Rex froze with the cup halfway to his mouth.

“Who—”

“Kenobi.” Cody shrugged nonchalantly, as if his Chief often sent him pictures of said Chief's little sister sleeping on Cody’s brother. He nodded to the counter where his phone sat illuminated. “Said his sister-in-law happened upon an interesting scene this morning in her living room.”

Rex groaned and slid to the floor. He’d thought Padme seemed a little too _knowing_ when she served him breakfast this morning.

“Relax, kid!” Cody said, turning back to the stove to flip pancakes. “This is good! You can’t honestly tell me she doesn’t have feelings for you now, can you? Once you get past the bedhead, she’s clearly pretty comfortable. Look at her happy little face!”

Rex groaned again but grabbed Cody’s phone from the counter and zoomed in on the picture. Ahsoka was smiling peacefully, her arms completely around him in her sleep. His own sleeping face looked as calm as he could ever remember seeing himself.

“Shit.” Rex set the phone back on the counter above his head and laid down on the kitchen tile.

Cody didn’t even pause in his pancake-making to peer down at his supine brother. “You know we hardly ever clean that floor, right?”

Rex shrugged, probably wiping even more dust and who knows what else on his clothes. “I’ve got toddler germs all over me anyway.”

“Just making sure.”

Cody turned off the stove and stacked the last batch of pancakes on a plate. From Rex’s angle on the floor, the pile of pancakes looked comically high.

“Come on, little brother.” With the hand that wasn’t holding the plate, Cody reached down to grab one of Rex’s arms and hefted him up. “We’ve got sugar and carbs to consume. You can have a breakdown at the realization that your star-crossed love is requited some other time.”

* * *

Back at Anakin’s house, Ahsoka was having a similar breakthrough.

After she’d woken up and almost fell off the couch in her shock at bedfellow—couchfellow?—Ahsoka and Rex had awkwardly sat through a simple breakfast Padme had prepared. Once Rex had apparently deemed the torture had lasted long enough, he practically sprinted out the front door, hastily promising to see her at the station next shift.

If that wasn’t bad enough, then Padme gave her a _look_ that said she knew exactly what Ahsoka was thinking. She’d showed her the picture then.

“Oh my God.” Ahsoka softly banged her head against the tabletop. “I’m all over him! I probably attacked him in my sleep and he was just too polite to wake me up.”

“Ahsoka.”

“I won’t be able to look him in the eye ever again. Maybe I should move to another country. I hear the Southern Hemisphere's nice this time of year—"

“Ahsoka!” She looked up at Padme’s stern voice that she usually only used when one of the twins had an interesting bug that the other wanted to see but they weren’t sharing. “Look at his face in that picture. Look how he’s holding you.”

She did as she was told. Rex did look pretty content, now that she studied his expression. And now that Ahsoka was looking, she remembered the warm feeling of his big hands on her back. She was pretty sure he’d ran his hands up and down her spine for a while during the night, too. That had been nice. Really nice, actually.

Ahsoka gasped and looked up at Padme with deer-in-headlights eyes.

“I’m in love with Rex.”

_Oh if only I’d been recording that_ , Padme thought wistfully to herself. Obi-wan couldn’t claim technicalities on an honest-to-God confession.

“And he’s in love with you, sweetie,” she said kindly.

Ahsoka gasped again and Padme wondered if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen somehow. Maybe breathing though all that firefighter equipment all the time had negative effects on her lung capacity. She’d have to remember to ask Anakin if that was possible.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys make a new friend.

“Shut up, Hardcase!”

The whispered words might as well have been a shout in the quiet station and immediately set metaphorical alarm bells ringing in Rex’s head. He set down the box of med supplies he’d been inventorying in one of the rigs and cautiously peered out into the garage.

“But I want to hold him!”

Rex blinked. He sighed and exited the rig fully. He’d come out here under the excuse of inventory, but had really been hoping for some uncomplicated quiet. An increasingly hard commodity to come by in his life. He turned the corner to see Fives and Hardcase kneeling by the bay doors across the garage with their backs to him.

“He doesn’t like to be held, idiot.”

If they found another stray dog and tried to convince Rex that the station needed a firehouse dog, he was going to murder someone. They’d been pestering him for years that _Station 2 had a dog, so why can’t we?_ Children. He worked with children. Station 2 had a dog because it was Chief Koon’s own dog that he took home with him. Fives and Hardcase could get their own damn dogs and take care of them, he grumped to himself.

Fives and Hardcase stopped their squabbling as a shadow loomed over their backs. With wide eyes they first looked at each other, then at Rex who was standing behind them with his hands on his hips. They scrambled to stand while hiding whatever was on the ground behind them.

“Cap!” Fives exclaimed. He tried for a casual tone that wasn’t fooling anyone. “Didn’t see you there, buddy. What’s up?”

“Yeah, what’s goin’ on? We’re just hangin’ out here. By the bay doors. Just pallin’ around. Classic Fives and Hardcase stuff, you know how it is…” Hardcase cast his gaze anywhere but Rex’s face as he spoke. Rex let him ramble, pleased to see he could still intimidate them with nothing but a look. “We were about to get some lunch actually. You want anything? It’s pretty boring out here, so we’re tired of it. Outside gets old after a while, am I right—"

A none too subtle jab to Hardcase’s ribs got him to shut up. He snapped his jaw shut and stared past Rex’s left ear.

Rex narrowed his eyes and jutted his chin toward the nonexistent space between Fives’ and Hardcase’s shoulders, which were blocking his view. “Show me.”

Fives sighed and stepped to the side. There on the grass just beyond the driveway was a small turtle about the size of Rex’s hand. It was walking slowly toward Fives, putting one tiny clawed foot on his shoe.

“We found him on a median on the road with nothing else around him. Poor little guy was stuck between the traffic. We couldn’t just leave him there! But we didn’t know where he lived.” Fives shrugged, a fond look on his usually jovial face. “We thought maybe he could live in the little wooded area near the station. Kind of an outside pet.”

Rex sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Turtles don’t live in the woods, they need water.”

“Oh.” Fives frowned and looked down at the turtle that was now making a valiant effort to climb his shoe using the shoelaces as a ladder. “Well I guess we can find somewhere else he’d like…”

The sheer _sadness_ in Fives’ voice about did Rex in. The cuteness of the turtle sealed the deal. Rex let out a frustrated growl. He was getting soft in his old age if cuteness was affecting his decision-making. Cody was going to tease him mercilessly for this, he just knew it.

“You two will be responsible for him.” Fives and Hardcase stared slack-jawed at him. “You’re going to research everything about turtles and get an aquarium _with a pond_ for him to live in. You’re going to feed him, clean the tank, and do whatever else is needed to take care of him. Got it?”

Their faces split into wide grins. Hardcase let out a whoop and surged forward to hug Rex. He chuckled and lightly patted him on the back before stepping back, making sure that the turtle was well out of stepping-on range. Hmm, that could be a problem in a station full of people. They’d need to find a way to make sure the turtle wouldn’t get trampled.

“You won’t regret this, Cap,” Hardcase told him.

“Oh I’m fairly certain I will, but what’s new.”

Fives beamed at him and crouched down to the turtle. “You hear that, little buddy? You’re gonna be our new firehouse mascot.”

“You got a name for him yet?” Rex asked.

Hardcase puffed out his chest. “Yup. Rex, meet Chief Michael Snappybottom Waterfellow the Third. Chief Mike for short.”

Rex stared at him then looked to Fives who just shrugged. “He wouldn’t shut up on the way home until he could name him.”

Rex shook his head in exasperation. “I’m not even going to try to decipher all that, ‘Case. Whatever, Mike is fine.”

“ _Chief_ Mike,” Hardcase corrected.

Rex shook his head in exasperation, but then smirked as an idea came to him. “But you two are telling the human Chief about our new recruit.”

Fives and Hardcase audibly gulped as they looked at each other, then down to the turtle making itself comfortable on Fives’ shoe.

* * *

Rex was drinking a cup of coffee as he read over some papers in the common room later when he heard a high-pitched shriek from down the hall. The next second Chief Skywalker came barreling into the room, confusion and panic on his face.

“Why is there a turtle with a balloon tied to it in the men’s room!?”


	5. Chapter 5

She didn’t realize what time it was until she was already pulling up to the curb in front of Rex’s house. Almost midnight maybe wasn’t the best time to have this conversation. Whatever, she was already there. If he didn’t answer the door, she could just leave her grand romantic gesture on his porch. Yeah, that’s not creepy at all.

Ahsoka had been mindlessly wandering through an all-night store when she found it and the idea popped into her head. And then an old woman almost ran her over with a cart when she stopped in the middle of the aisle. Her heels still ached where the cart had rammed into them. That’s the kind of detail they don’t show you in the movies.

Ahsoka got out of her car, muttering the lines she’d practiced on the drive over to herself as she walked up to the house.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

She jumped at the deep voice and peered into the darkness toward Rex’s porch. There lounging on his porch swing with a bottle of beer in his hands was the very person she’d come to see.

“Shit,” she gasped. She clutched the box to her chest and tried to control her breathing. “You scared me, Rexter.”

“Sorry.”

He didn’t look all that sorry, now that her eyes were adjusting to the low light. He had a grin on his stupidly handsome face and took a calm swig out of the bottle as she watched.

“Whatcha got there?” he called.

Ahsoka was grateful for the dark now because she was sure she was blushing. She fidgeted on the sidewalk. “Oh, this? Yeah, it’s um… Well, it seems kind of stupid now. But I saw it and it reminded me of you so I bought it.”

His expression softened and he patted the spot next to him on the swing. She took the few steps up to his house slowly, cognizant that the only thing that could make her look more foolish in this moment was falling on her face going up stairs. When she got to the swing, she stood awkwardly in front of it and held out the box to him.

“All the High School Musical movies?” he said excitedly as he reached out to take it.

“Remember that time we watched all of them in one day?” Ahsoka asked. She forgot her apprehension for a second, lost in the memory. “Hardcase was so upset with us by the time they were over.”

Rex laughed along with her. “He hasn’t played basketball since. Says we ‘ruin the game’ with all our singing. To be fair, Jesse can never get Gabriela’s parts quite right.”

She sat down next to him on the swing and pulled her knees to her chest. A companionable silence settled between them as their laughter died down, broken only by the quiet sounds of the buzzards in the night air.

Just as she gathered up her courage and was about to say something, Rex beat her to it.

“I love you,” he blurted out.

He picked at the label on his beer bottle, not looking at her reaction. He would have seen a silly grin blossoming on her face as she hugged her legs tighter.

“I know.”

He did look up at her then. His eyes widened as she scooted closer to him on the seat.

“I had this whole speech planned out with the DVDs and how you’re my best friend and I didn’t even realize I’d been in love with you the whole time. It was really cheesy. Had a bunch of quotes from the movies and everything.”

“You’re in love with me?” he repeated, a hint of awe in his voice.

She rocked so her shoulder bumped his lightly. “Duh.”

Rex chuckled and set the bottle down on the porch. He put an arm around her and she happily snuggled into his side, crossing her legs over his lap.

“But I’m still a little afraid,” Ahsoka told him in a small voice. “I don’t want this to change us or to lose our friendship.”

He pulled her closer to him. “I know, I don’t want that either. Why don’t we just go slow, and take things one at a time.”

“That’d be good. I’m not— ugh, I’m not _good_ at this kind of stuff,” she huffed. “ _Relationships_.” She spat the word like it was something icky.

Rex laughed at her disgust. “Well good news, darling. According to Cody, you and I have been in a committed relationship for years without even knowing it. And you’ve been doing just fine so far. The only difference going forward is now I can do this for real instead of just dreaming about it.”

“Wha—"

He leaned down and kissed her. She let out a squeak of surprise but returned the kiss after a beat. He brought his hands up to her cheeks and she shifted so that she could wrap her arms loosely around his neck. He groaned into the kiss as she carded her fingers through the short hair on the back of his head.

Ahsoka felt the kiss all the way to her toes. She made a sound of protest when Rex pulled away after a minute. He didn’t go far though, just rested his forehead against her own.

“Okay, you make a fair argument,” she said breathlessly before pulling him into another kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm procrastinating a lot right now so editing on this is going well. So have a chapter about the dream of home ownership!

Ahsoka slumped down into a chair next to Rex at the communal table, putting her head on her forearms. Fives reached across from the other side of the table to pull one of her braids. She grumbled something unintelligible and swatted at the hand without lifting her head.

Fives shrugged and went back to his breakfast burrito. “Just checking if you’re alive.”

Ahsoka sighed dramatically and sat up only to lean heavily against Rex’s side, softly thunking her head onto his shoulder. Rex just chuckled. They hadn’t exactly told anyone that the nature of their relationship had changed, but then they also hadn’t _not_ told anyone either. He was coming to realize just how touchy-feely their relationship had always been if no one was looking twice at them now for open displays of affection.

“Rough night?” he asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye as he sipped his coffee. He twirled one of her braids around his finger casually.

“I hate my roommate,” she grumbled again, but this time without her arms and the table muffling her, it was actually understandable.

“Didn’t you just move into a new place like two weeks ago?”

“Yup. Just goes to show, never trust Craigslist ads. Everything was fine until I realized she was the devil reincarnated in human form and sent here to torture me.” Rex almost choked on his coffee.

“Can the devil be reincarnated?” Fives mused out loud. He took another bite of burrito and continued his thought while chewing. “I mean, he can’t die right? So he wouldn’t be able to _re_ incarnate per se. It’d be more like an _incarnation_ , if that’s even the right word for it…”

Ahsoka just stared at him for a long moment. She shook her head a bit and blinked. Rex sighed.

“ _Anyways_ ,” he said with a glare directed across the table. “What’s that got to do with last night?”

“Well, last night, the devil _incarnate_ ,” she said with a pointed look at Fives, “decided she needed to clean. Everything. Starting with all the very loud pots and pans and utensils and crap in the kitchen and ending with the also very loud shower curtains and whatever else she could throw around _loudly_ in the bathrooms.”

“That sucks,” Fives commiserated. “Can you break the lease already?”

“Luckily I signed month to month, so I just have to deal with it for another two weeks. I’ll probably just sleep at the station for the rest of the time. Wouldn’t be the first time. But then I need to find another place, and it was already hard enough to find this one—”

She cut herself off with a groan and fell back into her previous position on the tabletop. Rex put a hand on her back and rubbed absentmindedly. He made the mistake of looking at Fives at that moment and saw a smug smile taking hold on the other man’s face. Rex mouthed at him to _shut the hell up_ , the little shit.

“Say, Commander, didn’t you say you always wanted to buy a house?” Rex narrowed his eyes at the sudden segue. Fives had put down his burrito, so Rex knew he wasn’t going to like whatever he was building up to. “Put down some roots, invest in real estate, yadda yadda?”

Ahsoka sighed somewhat wistfully as she cocked her head to the side, still resting on her forearms. “Yeah, I’ve been looking off and on. I just can’t seem to find something that checks all my boxes, you know? Close-ish to the station and Anakin and Obi-Wan. Cute house that doesn’t need a ton of work but that I can still put my mark on. Nice yard.”

Fives’ evil smile grew. “Hey, Cap, didn’t you say the house next door to you and Cody just went on the market?”

Rex _hadn’t_ told Fives that, actually. Which meant that Fives was looking at real estate listings near Rex’s house. And somehow knew all of Ahsoka’s wish list items for a house.

Which meant that Fives had been planning this.

“Cute little bungalow. Big oak tree in the back. Three bedrooms, one point five baths.” Fives continued with a mock-pensive face as if he was the house’s listing agent. “New HVAC within the last year, if I’m not mistaken.”

Ahsoka perked up as Fives went through his clearly memorized description. He probably stole it right from the Zillow listing. Rex took his hand off her back as she sat up again—this time supporting her own weight.

“You’ve been to Rex and Cody’s house before, right?” Fives asked her, not waiting for an answer. “It’s just a couple blocks from the Chief’s. Down the road, really.” He snapped his fingers as if a thought just came to him. “And hey! You’d be neighbors with the Cap over here. You guys could carpool!”

Ahsoka had already pulled out her phone and opened a real estate app, zooming in on Rex’s block.

“Oh that’s so cute! Wow, I can actually afford this too.” She was engrossed in the listing so she didn’t see Fives leaning back in his chair, arms clasped behind his head with a shit-eating grin on his face that Rex would love to smack off.

_Carpool?!_ Rex mouthed. Fives only smiled back serenely.

“I have to show Obi-Wan this,” Ahsoka said, nose inches away from her phone screen. “He has a realtor friend that’s been mostly unhelpful so far, but maybe she can set up a showing after work.”

Rex did a double take as she shot out of her seat, fingers flying over the touchscreen of her phone. After work as in _today?_ Holy hell.

“You’re welcome!” Fives called to her as she speedwalked to her office.

“What the hell was that, Fives?” Rex snarled, keeping his voice down still in case Ahsoka reappeared.

“Just giving the situation a little helping hand.” Fives picked up his burrito up again and ate, smug smile still firmly in place. He sighed melodramatically as he swallowed a bite. “Someday you’ll thank me for this, Cap.”

“Someday I’ll hit you. The situation is just fine as it is.”

Fives pretended like he didn’t hear him and did the annoying fake finger-snap-idea-thing again—earning another growl from Rex. “You know, while an unconventional choice for a baby name, Fives could work for a boy or a girl—ow!”

* * *

“The kitchen could use a little work,” Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, standing in the empty living room of the house later that day. “But it really is a nice house. It’s perfect for you.”

Ahsoka beamed. She would never admit it, but she craved the approval of her older brothers. It was one of the reasons she followed in their footsteps and became a firefighter. The ‘family business’ as Anakin called it.

She’d fallen in love with the house immediately and had already told the realtor to start the paperwork to make an offer, but hearing validation from Obi-Wan settled her nerves. Anakin was at work but she wanted at least one of them to see the house. Buying a home was a big deal for Ahsoka. Sure it was a lot of money, and seeing the monthly payment schedule for the mortgage that extended well past her middle age brought out a fear of commitment she didn’t even know she had. But it would be hers.

While Obi-Wan and Anakin had both bounced around foster families and group homes until they were older, Ahsoka was only a couple years old when their parents adopted her. The only family and home she’d ever known was with them. And when their adoptive parents died while she was still in high school, she clung to her brothers for the security and familial love they represented. She’d moved in with Obi-Wan, who was already a Captain at that point, and that became her new home. And when Anakin came back from college on breaks, he lived with them too.

She did eventually move out to forge her own path and figure out who she was without her brothers, but none of those places were ever home. Now Ahsoka was going to make one for herself.

She wrapped her arms around Obi-Wan from the side, slotting herself beneath his chin like she did when she was a kid. It was a little more difficult to do now since she was about the same height as Obi-Wan, but Ahsoka made it work. He chuckled as he returned the hug and she was embarrassed to feel tears start to form in her eyes.

Whether he felt the tears on his chest or just correctly interpreted the tightness of her hold, Obi-Wan hummed and kept her in his arms. “What’s the matter, little one?”

She laughed wetly. “It’s nothing. I just— Do you think this is what it was like for them?”

“Well I imagine house prices were a lot lower back when they bought their first home,” Obi-Wan said in a light tone. It had the desired effect and she hid her face in his sweater again as she chuckled. “But yes, I imagine our parents felt all the same anxiety and excitement that you’re feeling right now. I also think they’d be very proud of you. _I’m_ very proud of you.”

“Thank you.” A warmth spread through her body. She loosened her death grip on his torso and shuffled back, discretely wiping her eyes. Obi-Wan put his arm around her shoulders as they stood looking out the window.

“Although Dad would’ve hated how big the lot is. He despised mowing,” he told her.

“Maybe I can bribe my neighbors to do it for me.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard in thought. “Cody’s greatest weakness is brownies.”

“Noted.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't be a firefighter AU without a little fire.

Anakin clapped Rex on the shoulder as he stepped onto the curb next to him. “What’s the word, Captain?”

Rex had been going over the building schematics but paused to answer him, not even questioning why Anakin had showed up on the scene when he wasn’t on duty. He’d learned early on that their Chief kept tabs on them, in some way or another, pretty much all the time. “Twenty-four unit apartment building, three stories. Fire originated in the ground level back right unit, looks like the kitchen most likely. Doing a final sweep for residents now.”

Anakin nodded, looking over the scene sharply. “It’s an old building, that could help or hinder us. What do you think, Rex?”

“It looks to be sturdy, sir. I think in this case it’s a positive. Old, solid wood and brick that’s slow to burn. The windows are shit though, and there’s some foliage in the back that worries me. Too close to the exterior wall, could catch if it gets hot enough.”

Anakin gave a grim smile, proud that his Captain could give such an educated assessment, but not liking the odds for this being an easy job. “Who’s all inside from our guys?” he asked.

A burst of static cut off Rex’s reply and he quickly turned the volume up.

“—flames have reached center corridor—” More static as the person speaking stopped pressing their mic button to transmit, then continued, “already reached ceiling of ground floor, likely heating surrounding areas.”

Rex swore under his breath. Anakin couldn’t help but agree. He’d hoped they could contain it to the one unit, or even just the ground level, but if the flames were heating the ceiling, they were running out of time for that.

Rex turned his head to speak into the transmitter on his shoulder. “Is the building clear of civilians?”

“Ground floor clear, Cap.”

“Top floor clear. Sweeping second level now,” Ahsoka’s clipped voice sounded after Jesse’s.

“Make it quick. As soon as it’s a confirmed clear, I want you all out of there. Tango team, do as much as you can in the next sixty seconds then head out.” A round of copies through the radio answered Rex from all five firefighters inside.

“Bravo clearing the top floors, Tango on ground?” Anakin asked him, frowning. Rex nodded and went back to his clipboard. As a rule, Anakin tried not to let his worry for his little sister, now Bravo leader, get in the way of his job, but it was hard when danger was such a constant presence in their lives.

Sitting on the sidelines like this was also one of the more difficult parts of command, in Anakin’s opinion. It was probably one reason Ahsoka and Rex switched off who coordinated from the curb, and who led inside. But he trusted them, like he trusted all the men and women in the department. It was easy to say that though, and a whole other thing to actually let situations develop out of your control.

* * *

Fives pounded his closed fist on the apartment door. “Coruscant Fire Department.”

“Let’s open it up,” Ahsoka told him. Fives got in place beside her as they braced to kick the door down. “On three. One, two—”

The door slammed open with a crash, partially off its hinges as Ahsoka and Fives pushed through. Ahsoka quickly moved to the back of the apartment to search for signs of life.

“Anybody in here?” Fives’ voice boomed in the small space. Ahsoka finished her lap through the two bedrooms and returned to the main area.

“Let’s move on.”

“Copy, Commander.”

They repeated the process with the next several units, finding no one. Ahsoka noticed that smoke was reaching them now and the unmistakable roar of flames could be heard from below.

Finally they reached the last door on this level. Fives knocked on the door and called out again. Just when they were about to break down the door, they heard a muffled shout from inside.

“Shit.” Fives rammed his shoulder into the door and it luckily opened without much protest. They spread out in the apartment and found an older woman in one of the bedrooms.

“Ma’am, we have to go,” Fives told her as Ahsoka did a cursory sweep of the remaining rooms.

The woman pleaded with them in rapid Spanish, panic in her voice. Ahsoka had been a shit student, but she remembered enough of her high school Spanish to understand she was looking for someone.

“It’s okay, we’ll find them,” Ahsoka placated. She spotted an overturned walker to the side as she began to check over the room. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“Lucía,” the woman sobbed. “My dog. I can’t—I can’t lose her.”

“We’ll find her,” Ahsoka said. She reached out a steadying hand to the woman.

Fives glanced sharply at her. They both knew they were running on borrowed time as it is. They searched for a whole thirty seconds before Ahsoka called it. The woman, Lucía, was coughing too much.

“Fives, get her out of here. I’ll get the dog.”

“Not on Chief Mike’s life, sir,” he said defiantly.

Ahsoka scowled at him. “Don’t bring the turtle into this. Get the civilian out of the building, Fives.”

Fives wavered, glancing toward Lucía who was sitting on the floor now to get away from the smoke rising to the ceiling.

“Fives, damn it, that is an order. Get the fuck down those stairs while you still can.”

He stared at her with hard eyes for a long moment. She almost thought he would disobey but then he gave a quick nod.

“Fine. But I’m seeing your ass out there right after us, clear?” He turned to the woman. “Lucía, my CO will find your dog and meet us out there. I’m going to take you outside now.”

Fives fitted an arm beneath Lucía’s shoulders and turned to leave the apartment through the front door. At the threshold he looked back at Ahsoka and called to her, “Don’t make me a liar, sir.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she shouted back. Ahsoka smiled briefly under her mask and then resumed the search for the dog.

* * *

She found the dog, a pitiful fluffy white thing, scared out of its tiny mind under the couch in the living room.

“Come here, girl. It’s okay,” Ahsoka called to her, kneeling down to get beneath the couch. With some maneuvering, she got a grip on the dog by the scruff and dragged her out. “There we go. Good girl.”

The floorboards beneath Ahsoka's feet gave way, bringing the foot that hadn’t been resting on a joist down in a lurch. She felt a hard snap in her right ankle as it landed at a sharp angle, with that leg wedged between the deteriorating floorboards. Ahsoka scrambled to get back to the intact section of the floor. She held the shaking dog in one hand as she used the other to pull herself up.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she tried to soothe the dog in a soft tone. The pain in her ankle registered but she couldn’t focus on it right now. “We’re gonna be fine. I’ll get you out of here.”

The dog let out a high-pitched whimper but didn’t make a move to try to escape her hold. She started a careful crawl toward the front door, putting most of her weight on the arm that wasn’t carrying the dog and the leg that wasn’t injured.

“Good girl. It’s gonna be okay.” Ahsoka suspected she was reassuring herself as much as the dog at this point. She unzipped her jacket just enough to get the fluffy dog’s head covered inside. Hopefully that would help keep some of the smoke and fumes away from its tiny lungs. “Everything’s a-okay… huh, don’t know your name. We’ll have to fix that—”

She heard a crash from below her. The interior structure was starting to collapse on itself. Time to get the hell out of dodge.

Ahsoka continued her awkward crawl to the front door of the unit and got as far as the hallway before she stopped. The flames engulfed the stairs and licked through the railing toward her. She couldn’t see anything of the ground level or the front door to the building. Just flames.

“Well, shit.”

She retreated into the apartment and closed the half broken-in door. She moved to sit for a second before remembering her ankle. The pain rushed back into the forefront of her mind, making her see spots in her vision. She consciously pushed it down again. There’d be time for that later, if there was a later.

God, she hoped there’d be a later.

“This is Bravo leader,” she said into her radio, forcing her voice to remain calm. “Exit on stairs not possible anymore. Will attempt alternate route.”

Ahsoka crouched down again and crawled on her forearms toward the biggest window she’d seen in the apartment. Her only hope now was to get out that way. It’d be a two-story drop, but she’d had worse. She heard the squawk of the radio answer her, but the roar of the fire drowned any words out. She knew what they’d be anyway. And who. She tried not to picture Rex’s face twisted in worry right now.

Ahsoka was careful to avoid the center of the room where the joists would be weakest and used her free hand to test sections before she put her full weight on it.

“Just fine… We’re just fine, Sparky?” she murmured to the dog. “No, too on the nose for the situation, I think. Eleanor? I could see you as an Eleanor…”

Another part of the floor collapsed next to her as she crawled on her elbows and knees. The dog gave a small yip from inside her suit, which she was now fully inside, nestled against her breastbone. That actually made it easier to keep hold of her so Ahsoka wasn’t complaining.

“Yeah, maybe not Eleanor… That’s okay,” she cooed down to the dog. “We’ll keep guessing, won’t we, little buddy…”

They got to the window but were faced with another problem. It was painted shut.

“Well isn’t that just fucking great…” Even through her mask, Ahsoka was starting to feel the poisonous gases in the air. She didn’t have time for this. Turning to the radio on her shoulder again, she pressed the transmitter button, slipping a little in her gloves. “Command base, Bravo leader attempting exit through north side living room window.”

Ahsoka unhooked the glass breaker tool from her belt, usually used in car wrecks but she hoped it would work on the thin glass of this window too. She gave a hard knock to the window with it and spidery cracks formed. More and more she hit it and the glass slowly shattered in place. Finally, when she deemed the glass’s integrity to be compromised enough, she turned her back to it and slammed her elbow at the weakest point of the cracks. There was a sharp sting of pain on her upper arm as one of the shards sliced through her suit. The strained whimper she let out startled the dog who barked from inside her suit.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. Tears were stinging her eyes, more from the shock of it than reaction to the pain. “We’re gonna be okay.”

She went back to clearing the window of the shards still in place, using the handle of the glass breaker to knock pieces out. The air felt so much clearer outside as she stuck her head out to gauge the distance to the ground. She spotted several of her team armed with hoses aimed at the wall. It looked like some of them were yelling at her, but she couldn’t hear them over the loud rush of the fire that had now taken hold of the living room behind her.

There were too many impediments on the ground for a ladder to reach her window. She was on her own for this. She wiped as many sharp points out of the window frame as she could and carefully sat on the ledge to swing her legs around. To fit through the frame she had to bend her legs uncomfortably tight, her injured ankle throbbing in heavy waves of pain.

“You know what? I’ve got it. Your name is Bubbles. Because bubbles are fun, who doesn’t like bubbles? And hey, bubbles float. That’s a good sign for us here. I wonder what the Spanish word for bubbles is…”

Ahsoka slid her legs over the outer sill to leave them hanging on the exterior wall. She took a deep breath and covered the small dog at her chest with stiff arms.

“Here goes nothing, Bubbles.”

Then she jumped.

* * *

Through the smoke escaping the front door, Rex spotted a figure exiting the building’s front door. Fives was supporting an elderly woman as they stumbled out. They were smudged with soot but otherwise seemed unharmed. A couple of the guys rushed over to help them get to the waiting ambulances. Rex waited for another figure to come out, but none did. He stormed over to where Fives had just set the woman down on a stretcher.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

Fives startled at his gruff tone. “She said she was gonna be right behind me. We were in the end unit but had to save the dog—”

“Pobrecita!” the woman exclaimed from behind an oxygen mask. “Where?”

Fives reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder. “The Commander will find her, Lucía. It’ll be okay.”

Just then their radios crackled to life. Rex heard her voice, calm and steady, as though this was just another day at the office. “This is Bravo leader. Exit on stairs not possible anymore. Will attempt alternate route.”

He almost sighed in relief before her words registered. Exit on stairs not possible. That meant the stairs had been engulfed or collapsed. And he knew the windows were shit with no fire escapes either. There _was_ no alternate exit.

She was trapped.

He almost crushed the radio as he depressed the button. “Bravo leader, state your position.”

No response. If the flames had reached the second floor, it was likely she just couldn’t hear him. That did nothing to settle his nerves though.

“Jesse, Hardcase, Kix!” The men stood at attention as he called them. “Circle the building, find the window most likely for an extraction on the end unit and get working!”

“Sir—”

He whirled around to face Fives. “I don’t want to hear it,” he snarled. “Get an oxygen mask on.”

He stalked back to Chief Skywalker, worry and rage in every step. No doubt the Chief heard the radio chatter.

“Rex!” the Chief barked when he was in range. He was waving Rex’s discarded clipboard. “I’ve been looking at these floor plans and I think I know where she’ll go. We’ve got to get to the north side of the building.”

“Good. Let’s go.” Just as Rex was about to speak into the radio again to order ground support, Ahsoka’s voice crackled through heavy static again.

“Bravo — attempting— living room window.” Static cut through her words but he thought they got the gist of it. He looked to Anakin who nodded to confirm that the unit’s living room windows were on the north side.

They ran around the building, getting there in time to see a window shattering on the second level. Several of their company were already there with hoses dousing the building where the flames burned through the hottest.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin called to her, but she didn’t seem to hear.

“She’s going to jump,” Rex said quietly. He stopped breathing as he watched Ahsoka launch herself from the window, twisting around to land on her back as her arms were crossed protectively over her front. She landed with a soft thud in a bush near the side of the building.

Anakin was running even before she landed, Rex on his heels.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin cried.

The first sound Rex heard from the landing site was a small yip. A tiny dog with fur matted black with soot popped its head up out of the greenery. Rex gently reached into the leaves blocking his view and felt Ahsoka’s hand curled protectively around the dog. He and Anakin gingerly picked her up and carried her away from the building.

“I’m fine, Rex,” she rasped.

They set her down a safe distance away and got her mask and air tank off. Her eyes were open but unfocused.

Rex spoke quickly into his radio. “Paramedics to the north side. Bring a stretcher.”

“’M sorry, Rex. Didn’t mean to scare you. I had to save Bubbles.”

“Is Bubbles the dog?” Anakin looked from Ahsoka to Rex. Rex could only shrug.

“Skyguy?” Ahsoka’s bleary eyes turned to the Chief, whose expression softened as he smiled down at her. Anakin grasped her hand that was closest to him.

“Yeah, Snips. I’m here.”

Ahsoka closed her eyes and nodded slightly. “Good. Maybe you can calm each other down enough to not let the other kill Fives.”

“Oh, Fives is still getting killed,” Rex growled, Anakin agreeing vehemently.

“Stop it.” She blindly reached up to pat Rex on the cheek. “I ordered him to leave me.”

Rex flinched. He’d expected that, but it still hurt to hear that she’d been so cavalier with her life.

Anakin frowned darkly. “We’ll talk about this later, Ahsoka. Right now we need to get you checked out.”

She hummed contentedly. “That’s fine. I’ve got a broken ankle, lacerations on my left arm, and probably some smoke inhalation.”

This time both Anakin and Rex flinched at her casual listing of injuries.

“It’ll be okay, ‘Soka.” Rex cupped her cheek with his hand and she leaned into it.

Ahsoka smiled at him. “I know.”

“Sirs, we need to get through.” Anakin released the hand he held and stood back for them, Rex doing the same after a second. She was lifted onto a stretcher, the dog still curled up on her chest.

Chief and Captain stood and followed as the paramedics rolled her over to an ambulance.

“I’m going with her,” Rex declared. Anakin just shrugged.

“Fine by me. I’ll take over here. That means you get to start the group text to update everyone on her status though.”

Rex grimaced. Their circle of friends and family was not known for their brevity over text.

“Luna!” The elderly woman from the apartment practically bowled over the medic that had been taking her blood pressure as she hobbled toward Ahsoka. Fives shot up from where he was sitting a few yards away to help the woman walk over.

Ahsoka looked down at the dog in her arms who was wagging her small tail excitedly upon seeing her owner. “Huh. I could’ve sworn you seemed like a Bubbles kinda gal.”

The woman started speaking very fast in Spanish, completely losing Rex.

“She says thank you… basically,” Fives translated unhelpfully.

“You’re welcome, ma’am,” Ahsoka said quietly.

They loaded Ahsoka up in the ambulance then. Rex put a foot on the bumper to go in after her, but Fives stopped him with a hand on his arm. Rex turned to face him, seeing the regret and worry on Fives’ face.

“I’m sorry, Rex.”

Rex smiled tiredly and clapped him lightly on the back. “No, I’m sorry. You were right to trust your commanding officer in the situation. Ride with the civvie to the hospital. You did good, Fives.”

A weight lifted off Fives’ shoulders as he replied, “Thanks, Cap. Will do.”

Rex turned and climbed into the ambulance, signaling to the paramedic up front that they were good to go. He carefully stepped around to Ahsoka’s side and grasped the hand that was already reaching out to him, bending down to kiss it as he sat in the available jump seat. She smiled up at him.

“Love you.”

“I love you so much, ‘Soka.” He laughed a little brokenly as he clutched her hand to his heart. The paramedic hopped in the back with them and shut the door.

* * *

Fives sighed. Then coughed when that tickled his throat wrong, reminding him that he still needed to see a medic.

He pulled out his phone and then opened the group text Hardcase had started years ago called “Cap & Commander sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

_Fives: Whoever picked closest to today’s date and “at the scene of a three-alarm fire” wins the bet._


	8. Chapter 8

“I can walk, you know.” Ahsoka crossed her arms as she sat in the wheelchair. “That’s why they gave me those crutches over there.”

“You almost died today. Humor me.” Rex didn’t sound all that amused. He grabbed the crutches from where they were leaning on the wall and started wheeling her out of the hospital room.

She huffed. “And I apologized for that.”

He didn’t respond so Ahsoka let herself believe she’d won the argument.

“You take care of our girl now, Rex!” One of the nurses called as they passed the nurses’ station. They spent way too much time here if they were on a first name basis with the hospital staff. She wouldn’t be surprised if some lucky RN was going home today with a pretty penny after winning a bet. Apparently everyone else in their lives participated in them, her brothers included. Her phone was blowing up from texts congratulating her and Rex on their new relationship, along with a few bemoaning that _couldn’t they have just waited until Labor Day to go public?_ or some variation thereof.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rex winked at the nurse—which Ahsoka thought was overkill—and audible swooning followed them into the elevator.

“Dial it down, Romeo,” Ahsoka grumbled.

He did chuckle at that, if reluctantly. When they’d gotten into the waiting elevator, Rex leaned back against the wall out of her line of sight and sighed. “You’ll be the death of me, woman.”

“Oh really? I thought that would be the fiery glory all of us firefighters aspire to go out in.”

She could almost feel the frown directed at her. “Too soon for dark humor, Ahsoka.”

“Sorry,” she said meekly.

The elevator doors opened with a tinny ding and Rex propelled her wheelchair out into the hospital lobby. Through the sliding glass doors of the entrance she could see a familiar SUV waiting in the loading zone. As they passed through the automatic doors, Cody got out of the driver’s seat and moved to open the rear passenger door.

“How’d you get roped into chauffeur duty, Cody?” she asked. Rex pushed her to the edge of the curb and walked around in front of her. He still looked too serious and broody for her liking.

Cody glanced at his brother and then back to her. “Nothin’ better to do on a free afternoon than drive a fellow Commander home from the hospital, I guess.”

Ahsoka passed the crutches she’d been balancing on an arm of the wheelchair to Cody, then heaved herself out of the seat. Why the hell do they have to make these things so goddamn low to the ground? She wobbled as she stood, all her weight on her uninjured foot. A hand steadied her, and she looked up to see Rex frowning down at her. They locked eyes for a long moment.

Cody cleared his throat loudly next to them. “I’ll just get the A/C running, shall I?” Without waiting for an answer, he took the crutches and walked back around to the driver’s side.

Rex helped her into the car, even going so far as to try to buckle her seat belt for her before she swatted his hand away.

“My arms are just fine,” she protested.

“You mean other than the four-inch-long gash that needed stitches?”

“Well that doesn’t stop me from buckling a seatbelt!”

“Children, children... Enough bickering!” Cody turned around in his seat to face them. “Rex, let the lady buckle her own damn seatbelt. She obviously needs this.”

Rex backed off and Ahsoka quickly buckled it. “Thank you, Cody. At least one of you is being rational,” she said.

Rex slammed the door shut without comment.

* * *

After a tense car ride and Cody's escape back to his and Rex’s house—conveniently next door now—Ahsoka figured it was time to broach the elephant in the room. She hobbled over to the kitchen on her crutches and gingerly sat on one of the large boxes still filled with her pots and pans and who knew what else waiting to be unpacked. She hadn’t gotten around to buying normal adult things like chairs, so the options for seating were fairly limited.

Rex busied himself opening cabinets at random until he found a shelf containing some mismatched cups. He selected two, a mug reading “Firefighters Like It Hot” that Anakin had given her for Christmas last year and a plastic cup with the faded logo of the local baseball team on it. He filled them both with water and handed her the plastic cup, probably figuring she’d break a ceramic object with her luck.

Ahsoka took a fortifying drink, wishing it was something stronger.

“Rex, I love my job, just like I know you love it too,” she began cautiously, picking at the ink on the cup. “And with that comes the possibility that we’ll get hurt. Some days life cashes in on that possibility and we do get hurt. I’m sorry for scaring you, but I would do the same things over again if I could. If there’s even one life I can save by doing my job to the best of my ability, then I’m going to fucking do my job.”

She felt tears prick behind her eyes, the day finally catching up to her. She took a hasty drink of water, silently thanking any god that would listen that she didn’t have much damage from smoke inhalation during the fire so she could swallow easily.

“I know you will. And while a part of me hates it, I know that we put ourselves in danger every time we answer a call. But I accepted that a long time ago.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “’Soka, I was pissed today because we’re finally together and I almost lost you before we even really got going. I wasted so much time when I could have been with you, and when I finally got my act together, it was almost too late.”

 _Oh_. Well now she felt like an ass for teasing him.

“I’m—”

“’Soka, I swear to all that is holy, if you say you’re sorry one more time…”

She snapped her jaw shut. She didn’t know how to apologize for trying to apologize so she just stayed silent.

Rex groaned and set his mug back on the counter. He walked around the island and kneeled in front of the box she was sitting on. She all but threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his middle and burrowed into his solid chest. Rex stroked a hand through her hair as he hugged her to him.

“I would like a life together _before_ we die a fiery death.”

Ahsoka giggled with surprised laughter against his t-shirt. “Now who’s being dark!”

Rex pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Just being realistic,” he murmured into her hair.

They stayed like that for several long moments, needing the physical reassurance of the other. Ahsoka lifted her head from his chest and pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“Come on. I’m gross. I need to take a shower.” She poked his side, hoping to bring some of his playfulness back. His quiet laughter rumbled through her body where they were still connected.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but…” Rex told her with a glint in his eyes.

“Hey!” She swatted at his shoulder. “They wouldn’t let me take a full shower at the hospital, just washed off my leg before they put the cast on.”

“I know, I know,” he placated, still holding her half on the cardboard box and half on his knees.

“You gonna let me go so I can shower?”

“Okay, but you’re not walking up those stairs.”

She made an exaggerated noise of affront. “Well how else am I supposed to get to my bedroom?”

Rex smiled crookedly at her. “I think you’re forgetting that you have a firefighter for a boyfriend.”

“Oh no you don’t, mister!” Ahsoka tried to scramble away from him but she was effectively trapped in his admittedly very strong arms. She squealed as he lifted her easily and settled her over one shoulder. He wrapped an arm around the back of her knees and patted her ass with the other hand.

“This okay?”

She sighed and accepted her fate. “Yes, I’m fine.”

He gave her butt another reassuring pat and started up the stairs.

* * *

“Ahsoka!” Cody called as he opened her front door. He’d tried knocking but hadn’t gotten any answer. They’d exchanged keys for emergencies, after all. And Cody and Rex’s hot water was out. Which _was_ an emergency in Cody’s book.

“Tano, if you’re here, I’m just gonna use your shower real quick!”

Still no answer. Her car was in the driveway, so he thought she’d be around. And anyway, they’d just taken her home from the hospital yesterday; he doubted she would be going back to work for at least a week.

Cody clomped up the stairs, hoping to alert her to his presence if she hadn’t heard his yelling already.

“I think it’s time for a new hot water heater for us…” He said loudly, continuing his conversation with the stairwell’s wainscoting.

He heard a heavy thud upstairs then a door being slammed shut. He took the last few steps two at a time and rounded the corner at the top in time to see a disheveled Ahsoka standing in front of her bedroom door. She was wearing a Coruscant FD sweatshirt about three times too big for her and wrinkled pink pajama bottoms that bunched above the cast on her ankle.

“Cody!” she said, obviously startled despite his loud entrance.

“Um hey…” Cody said cautiously. “Sorry to break in. I knocked and everything.”

“Oh, I didn’t hear you. I was just taking a nap.”

“A nap.” He paused and made a show at looking at his watch-less wrist. “At nine in the morning.”

Ahsoka grimaced. “Er, I mean, I was sleeping in.”

Cody hummed noncommittedly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the hallway wall. Ahsoka fidgeted, putting her weight on her booted foot before seeming to remember her injury and returning to her previous position.

“Just taking it easy since that fire. Doctor’s orders, you know how it goes. Rest up before you… mess up?” She trailed off looking confused at her own made-up phrase.

“Hmm.”

They stared at each other for a few heartbeats until Ahsoka exhaled dramatically.

“Ugh, fine.” She turned and flung the bedroom door open to reveal Rex standing awkwardly inside in just his boxers. “Happy now?”

“Immensely.” Cody let a wide smile overtake his face. “Why, little brother! And here I thought you must’ve taken an extra shift.”

“What do you want, brother?” Rex grumbled.

“Water heater’s out again. Came to see if I could use our dear neighbor’s shower.”

“Oh sure, yeah, no problem, Cody,” Ahsoka said with a wave of her hand. “Bathroom’s the door to your right—"

Rex grabbed Ahsoka by the elbows and guided her to sit on the unmade bed behind them in the room. Then he strode past Cody and opened a different door, pulling out a towel from a small linen closet. He threw the towel at Cody’s face and marched back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him forcefully.

Cody sniggered as he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. This was definitely going in his best man speech.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I tried to tie up my piecemeal story in a somewhat satisfying, fluffy end here. This was just a fun little project for me and I didn't expect so many people to connect with it. I'm awkward about responding to comments but I appreciate all your feedback and kudos and etc! <3


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